This is probably more a human interest op, rather than a consumer review; I feel that I have to share my thoughts and feelings on this amazing individual. I must thank in advance the CF trust for supplying some of the information contained in this op.

I do not want to go into any great detail with regards to Alice’s music as I do not wish to retract from the beautifully written review by sirq0508, which goes into all the details and all I would be doing is repeating what she said, what I will be writing about is my feelings on how Alice makes me feel every time I hear her music, and how she personally has effected my life.

I would say that I more stumbled across Alice’s work rather than hearing her music on the mainstream. I was flicking through the channels (yes I am one of those channel hoppers you hear about) one evening looking for something interesting to watch on TV hoping to find a good movie or something when I turned the channel to BBC3, it was then I stopped channel hoping, what I saw was Alice, although at the time I had no idea who she was, what I did know was that the individual on the TV screen was stunning, ok I know what your going to say typical bloke and a beautiful women, but let me assure you that was not it, this is going to sound corny but there was something about her that was telling me not to change the channel again, and watch the programme, it was actually quite an eerie feeling as if Alice herself was telling me to watch it.

The programme incidentally was called “The Nine Lives of Alice Martineau” the meaning of which will hopefully become clear later on.

What I was watching was a documentary of the life of Alice Martineau, her dreams, her ambitions, the battle with her health, her determination not to allow her health beat her, although inevitably it did.

What Alice suffered from was CF (Cystic Fibrosis).

Here is a basic summary of what CF is, thanks to the CF Trust for supplying this information.
CF causes the body to produce thick secretions that particularly affect the lungs and digestive tract.
Symptoms of CF include:
• Troublesome cough
• Repeated chest infections
• Prolonged diarrhoea
• Poor weight gain
CF affects a number of organs it is common for people with CF to encounter some difficulties with their lungs. A combination of physiotherapy and medication can help control lung infections and prevent lung damage. To avoid the risk of cross infection, people with CF need to ensure they do not come into close contact with others with CF. CF also affects the pancreas, which makes it difficult for people with CF to digest food. This can cause malnutrition, which can lead to poor growth, physical weakness and delayed puberty. There is medication that can compensate for the failure of the pancreas. In older patients, insulin production can become deficient due to increasing pancreatic disease. Some develop diabetes mellitus and their blood sugar levels are no longer controlled. However, this rarely happens to children with CF. Common symptoms of diabetes include thirst, hunger, weight loss and excessive need to urinate, but some people do not show obvious symptoms of diabetes.
In every ten babies born with CF, one is ill in the first few days of life with a bowel obstruction called meconium ileus. In these cases, the meconium (a thick black material present in the bowels of all newborn babies) is so thick that it blocks the bowel instead of passing through. Babies with meconium ileus often need an urgent operation to relieve and bypass the blockage. People with CF are prone to osteoporosis (thin, brittle bones) due to the nutritional and other problems involved with the disease. Adults with CF are at an increased risk of osteoporosis because of the adverse effects of steroids taken to control lung disease.
Although Cystic Fibrosis does not cause sexual impotency it can lead to fertility problems. In most men with CF, the tubes that carry sperm are blocked, which causes infertility. Because underweight women are more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles, the nutritional problems associated with CF may affect fertility. However, women with CF do produce healthy, fertile eggs so effective contraception is necessary.
CF can cause the blockage of small ducts in the liver. This only happens to approximately 8% of people who have CF. However; this is a serious health risk and may necessitate a liver transplant.
1 in 25 people have the defective gene that causes CF.
There are in excess of 7,500 in the UK suffer from CF,
5 People are born each week with this disease, and 3 People die each week.
Well that’s the basics of CF although there is a lot more information available all of which can be obtained from the CF Website www.cftrust.org.uk. Must thank Emma for her additional information.

Alice compared herself to a cat (hence the “Nine Lives of Alice Martineau”) she said on the documentary that she her heart stopped beating on several occasions whilst she was in hospital. Her illness took its grip on Alice so much that the only way she could survive would be to receive a Triple organ transplant (Heart, Lungs & Liver) as with a lot of CF sufferers this is the only cure at the moment, although this is still not a guarantee as it could return. However research being carried out by the CF Trust has identified the Gene that causes CF, but more research is required to produce a Gene therapy, to prevent this disease taking other young lives as the life expectancy of a CF sufferer is only 31 although a the majority of sufferers die earlier than this. The CF Trust is working hard to achieve this ultimate goal.

Watching the documentary had an enormous effect on my life, I was in tears by the end of the programme, it was such a huge effect that I actively researched the Disease as I felt that I had to return something to help other CF sufferers, I am now an active fundraiser, It made me realise that I am a lucky individual (health wise) we all complain that life stinks and we all a deserve better deal, but to the majority of the human population we really have nothing to complain about.

Alice’s music is so incredible not just the sound and the lyrics but the fact that when Alice was given the opportunity by Sony Records in October 2002, (after so many rejections from so many other record company’s) to produce Daydreams. The Disease was starting to take control and she was always having difficulty breathing, so it is amazing how she actually managed to concentrate so hard and put all her effort into recording the album with such a strong voice, listening to the music I would not have known she was ill, if I didn’t already know, also recording the album in a month because this album was released in November 2002. Alice died in March 2003 and I can only hope that she at least passed away peacefully.

You could say that Alice was a brave individual to achieve her goal whilst having this horrible disease, apart from the fact that Alice never thought of herself as brave and that she hated being called brave. Like so many CF sufferers they are amazing individuals because they do not let CF rule their lives. Like Alice they are very optimistic individuals and should be treated as such, hopefully with time and money the research can develop to produce the cure needed to eradicate this or at least help these individuals.

The Album:- "DAYDREAMS" - "Alice Martineau"

1. If I Fall
2. Baby’s Fine
3. Breathe Tonight
4. Inside of You
5. Sweet Fantasy
6. Too Late
7. The Right Time
8. The Sunlight Song
9. Three Colours Blind
10. Forget What I said
11. Nothing is Forever

Cost: The cost varies i bought my copy of the album in May 2004 from the CF Trust Website, for £14.99 (as all Proceeds from Sales were going towards funding research. HMV and Amazon varies from £4.99 to £11.99 and the album is also currently available on Ebay.